By Dave Walsh
HUNTINGTON – The Marshall University men’s basketball 2020-2021 season opener scheduled Wednesday night against Coppin State was canceled due to several Coppin State players testing positive for coronavirus.
The Thundering Herd will now open the season against Arkansas State Friday at Cam Henderson Center. Tipoff will be 4 p.m.
Arkansas State replaces Tennessee State, which had to pull out of the game earlier in the week.
Marshall returns all but one letterwinner from last season. Key players back include senior Jarrod West, junior Taevion Kinsey and redshirt freshman Andrew Taylor. Also back is senior Jannson Williams.
West made the Conference USA All-Defensive Team last year. Kinsey earned second-team All-C-USA honors. He led the team in scoring with a 16.4 average. Taylor made the C-USA All-Freshman Team after making league freshman of the week three times last season
Marshall closed out last season with a win over UTEP in the first round of the C-USA Tournament before the season came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.